Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Can't remove items from Trashes folder on my usb flash drives... iMac won't let me delete files in my .Trashes folder or even reformat the usb flash drive... Please help!

Everytime I delete an item from one of my usb flash drives... My iMac creates a hidden folder (.Trashes) on my usb drive and stores my deleted items in it... This causes my flash drives to show no available storage space. Everytime I try to remove items from the Trashes folder, empty Trash, click and drag items to the Trash bin on my desktop icon tray... it never works, the items stay on my flash drive... never to dissappear unless I plug the flash drive into my PC and remove it using PC... As I use Flash drives on a daily basis with my Mac, this is a hugh problem for me... Please help

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Nov 29, 2011 12:57 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Nov 29, 2011 2:59 PM

When the flash drive is mounted on the Mac, anything in the trash on the flash should also appear in the trash in the Dock. Emptying the trash with the flash drive mounted should empty the main trash and any trashes on connected and mounted drives.


There may be problems if the flash has been removed without unmounting (ejecting).


Note that the .trash folder is not removed. It only takes up a maximum of 4KB when empty. Just ignore it when it shows up on the Windows machine. It will be recreated every time you reconnect it to the Mac as it's an essential system file.


Message was edited by: noondaywitch

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Nov 29, 2011 2:59 PM in response to elleasan

When the flash drive is mounted on the Mac, anything in the trash on the flash should also appear in the trash in the Dock. Emptying the trash with the flash drive mounted should empty the main trash and any trashes on connected and mounted drives.


There may be problems if the flash has been removed without unmounting (ejecting).


Note that the .trash folder is not removed. It only takes up a maximum of 4KB when empty. Just ignore it when it shows up on the Windows machine. It will be recreated every time you reconnect it to the Mac as it's an essential system file.


Message was edited by: noondaywitch

Can't remove items from Trashes folder on my usb flash drives... iMac won't let me delete files in my .Trashes folder or even reformat the usb flash drive... Please help!

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.